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Frit fly Indeed it's Frit fly and not fruit fly.. though similar looking to the naked eye, these flies are root parasites, mainly affecting grasses. The adults do nectar, but the Thaumatomyia genus' larvae prey on root aphids. Geotagged,Summer,Thaumatomyia glabra,United States Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Frit fly

Indeed it's Frit fly and not fruit fly.. though similar looking to the naked eye, these flies are root parasites, mainly affecting grasses. The adults do nectar, but the Thaumatomyia genus' larvae prey on root aphids.

    comments (8)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Whoa, how small are these?

    For others wondering, "frit" is not a typo, this is actually the first frit fly on JD :)
    https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/diptera/chloropidae     Posted 3 years ago
    1. View morpheme's profile
      morpheme
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      They are tiny - 2-3 mm at most. You cannot see the amazing markings at all until it's magnified. To give you an idea of the scale, the leaf it's on is the very tip of one of the leaflets on a cut-leaf blackberry bush like this one -
      The Cutleaf Evergreen Blackberry, Rubus laciniatus. This invasive albeit with delicious fruit species is identified from the other introduced blackberry, R. armeniacus, by the leaves. E-Flora BC “Alternate, evergreen, palmately compound; leaflets 5, more or less egg-shaped in outline, deeply and jaggedly lobed to divided into secondary leaflets themselves jaggedly lobed or coarsely toothed, abruptly sharp-pointed at the tip, green and smooth or slightly hairy above, hairy and greyish-green beneath, the leaf-stalks and midveins beneath hooked-prickly; stipules linear.” For comparison, https://www.jungledragon.com/image/80309/the_himalayan_blackberry_rubus_armeniacus.html<br /> Canada,Cutleaf Evergreen Blackberry,Geotagged,Rubus laciniatus,Spring
       Posted 3 years ago, modified 3 years ago
      1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
        Ferdy Christant
        Lion
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        Stunning! Getting meaningful detail on a subject that tiny in the field is very hard. Posted 3 years ago
        1. View morpheme's profile
          morpheme
          Lion
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          I was lucky to find a cooperative subject :). This fly let me take a lot of images (and even a few different views) to be sure I got one with a decent focus. Posted 3 years ago
      3. View Claire Hamilton's profile
        Claire Hamilton
        Lion
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        Crikey, well spotted! Posted 3 years ago
    3. View Claire Hamilton's profile
      Claire Hamilton
      Lion
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      Yup, the name threw me! Never heard of these, pretty! Posted 3 years ago, modified 3 years ago
  3. View Wesley Goorachan's profile
    Wesley Goorachan
    Lion
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    That's a marvelous fly! Posted 3 years ago
  4. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
    Lion
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    Great find! Posted 3 years ago

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The Thaumatomyia glabra

''Thaumatomyia glabra'' is a species of grass fly in the family Chloropidae.

Info 3 0
Similar species: True Flies
Species identified by morpheme
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By morpheme

All rights reserved
Uploaded Sep 17, 2021. Captured Sep 16, 2021 15:53 in 25749 Helmick Rd, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284, USA.
country flag of United States of America Explore United States of America 39,925 9,640 8
  • X-E2
  • f/6.4
  • 1/250s
  • ISO800
  • 80mm
Captured in the summer. More summer photos.

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